Old Pyrography

  I was 19 yrs.old when I first discovered  old Pyrography. I found this long funny box in an antique store, and bought it for a small bit of change, ( I know it had to have been inexpensive, else I would not have been able to afford it at the time.)

I had no idea what it was, other than an odd old box, not particularly attractive; but it had a lot of storage room for art supplies and miscellaneous "somethings".

 Since that time I have learned to love these lightweight boxes which come in all sizes. The craft of Pyrography became a hobby during the period of 1870- 1930's and it is, precisely what you would imagine: PYRO being fire... woodburning being the craft. Originally from Europe and specifically from Flanders, the art of woodburning took on new  life for the Victorians.

 This lady is using a  benzene fueled tool with a hand bellows to burn into her project.

Women, men and children could create lovely little trinket boxes, (with designs either pre-stamped upon the purchased, light-weight box, or using paper patterns), to wood-burn their own treasures.

 There was a huge factory in Brooklyn NY called the Flemish Art Company  These factory workers are "stamping" and "burning" on the designs . Common lettering on boxes would be: Gloves, Handkerchiefs, Ribbon, Ties and Hose.

The idea, was for the hobbyist to purchase the pre-stamped box and the Pyrography kit to create a wood-burned treasure at home.

The variety in sizes ranged from tiny boxes of 3"x5". to boxes 36 inches long,

(as my first box you saw in top photo). Most of my collection has the pre stamped image, but has not actually been "burned" yet. I think I do prefer these.

You can pretty much date the boxes by the image and hairstyle of the ladies adorning some boxes

I use these for many items... but not  ties, gloves and hankies.

 This box perfectly holds 12 skeins of Valdani floss ( purchased this floss from Michelle at Raspberry Rabbits, if you like the colors)

  In my traveling artist box, which is a fairly large seed box to which I added a handle, I carry a few Pyrography boxes to hold mini art supplies.

Open it up and wallah, tiny palettes, brushes and the necessities to create art on the road.

  (Love those little tin Altoid boxes too. I have dozens of them to hold tiny things. And who does not like to pop a cinnamon Altoid, "curiously strong"!)

  Pyro's are also great for hiding ugly things in your vintage house like:

a water pic.

some are only 1 inch high. to fit in tight spaces.

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In another Vintage Seed box, are more pyros. which contain the items I need to take to art shows.

  These are my favorites, because they are so small and because the kitty one was quite a find!

I have my price tags in this kitty box.

Aren't these just delightful... I wonder what you could put in such boxes? Your thread, pens, beads, receipts, jewelry?

Sometimes they will have been dyed with inks. I wonder why the "hobbyist" did not finish coloring these? At a later date, it appears that someone used nail polish on the darkest rose.. I wish I could get that off!

But of ALL THESE BOXES,

  what I really love is this one:

 An actual Pyrography kit from the aforementioned Flemish Art Company In NY

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It actually looks a little intimidating to me

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  I wonder how many unfortunate events occurred whilst using this rather bizarre and daunting array of objects.

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 The literature from the company calls this a great hobby for young girls and boys...hmmm I wonder.

 I'm not so sure I would have turned my kids loose with this or even have tried it myself... but who knows. The Victorians were a naive lot at times.

  The gaseous fluids are no longer in the bottles and the rubber hose which attaches to the wood burning  tips is past it's useful life .I have the diminished rubber BELLOWS bulb as well, ( that the French lady is using in the ad; but it has shrunk beyond recognition, see that black thingy in the box?)
 
It may well be, that the owner of this box never even used it, because the stamped top was never burned into. You can see the faint outlines of tulips and a bird. It looks as if the bird was started, just.

  But  you don't need a vintage Flemish Pyrography set to have  lovely vintage box's like these with little hinges and locks and lids which click closed with  a most pleasant sound.

 You can still find wonderful Pyrography boxes for as little as $10 and as high as $200. I see them all the time on ebay, a vast array of them. I missed out last night on a box marked "Ribbons", forgot all about it. I wonder, did you get that box Christie? I hope so!

Have fun bidding!